“There’s concern that the layoffs are growing,” said Challenger. “The government, the military has announced 50,000 job cuts and that’s a real concern because it may be just the beginning of what’s to come in that sector.”

September’s layoff totals marked the highest number since April of 2009, when 132,500 layoffs were announced.

The grim outlook comes as another report from ADP showed small business hiring added 15,000 more jobs than economists expected — a development Challenger said the nation needs to see more of in coming months.

“It’s good news…91,000 is certainly nothing to sneeze at,” he said.

“It’s not going to drive unemployment down,” Challenger added. “We need [to add] about 150,000 jobs a month to really make a dent there, but at least it’s better than what we saw last month.”

Challenger predicted even more layoffs in the fall for several sectors across the economy, including government, banking and finance.